In knitting machine pattern mechanisms without Jacquard mechanisms, patterns are obtained by means of sinkers which extend rearwardly of the needles and are either of different lengths or provided with butts of different heights so that appropriate sinkers can be selected in accordance with a pattern. Both of these selection arrangements have the disadvantage that when a changeover to another pattern is to be made, the sinkers must be changed in position in the needle bed in accordance with the respective patterns. Moreover, it is usually then necessary also to shift the needles in order to be able to knit the required edge onto the piece of fabric, or to achieve further pattern possibilities by combinations between the sinkers and needles. This is particularly the case with different butt heights, because the pattern area is then very small.
Since this displacement of the needles and sinkers demands a considerable expenditure of effort it has been known to provide mechanisms for knitting machine in which the needle, or a part controlling the needle, is either raised or lowered, a selector member being associated with each needle which can be selectively adjusted to respective pressing bar rows in the cam in a number of stages. To achieve different knitting edges in for example 1:1, 2:1, or other kind of knitting, a number of rows of non-adjustable butts are provided on the selector members in accordance with a further proposal, the butts enabling the respective edge to be knitted by merely racking over the cam. With this kind of mechanism a considerable outlay is necessary for supporting the selector members and the needle bed must be very deeply slotted at the rear to enable the needle or a part controlling the needle to be raised and lowered to different depths.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a pattern mechanism for a knitting machine which is of simple construction.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a pattern mechanism in which a needle control element is divided into two parts in order to facilitate pattern selection.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a pattern mechanism which facilitates selection of a wide range of patterns.